Kiev’s foreign ministry declared the diplomat leading the consulate in Berehove, a Ukrainian western town, “persona non grata” in an announcement issued earlier today.
The consul has been given 72 hours to leave the country after being accused of illegally issuing passports to ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine.
Russian news agency TASS claims the ministry has footage showing the activity.
Kiev’s foreign ministry said in a statement: “He was given a note stating that, in accordance with Article 23 of the Wien Convention on Consular Relations of 1963, in connection with activities incompatible with the status of a consular officer, the Consul of the Consulate of Hungary in the city of Berehove should leave the territory of Ukraine during the next 72 hours.”
The ministry expressed hope this move would not spark a retaliatory measure against Ukraine and Ukrainians.
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The statement continued: “We hope that the Hungarian side will refrain from any unfriendly steps towards Ukraine in the future, and that its officials will not violate Ukrainian legislation.
“We consider Ukrainian citizens of Hungarian origin as a unifying factor in relations between the two states and call on our Hungarian partners to keep a similar behaviour.”
Berehove, a city near the Hungarian border, is located within the Zakarpattya region, where almost 200,000 Hungarians live.
However, Hungary has already promised to will block Kiev’s aspirations to join the European Union and NATO in response to the expulsion.
Fears the expulsion could take place grew after Pavlo Klimkin, Ukraine’s foreign minister, warned in a Facebook post yesterday, “the events around the distribution of Hungarian citizenship in Berehove, let’s say, do not add joy.”
He added: “They only complicate the already not perfect relationship between the two countries.”
On the same day, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto accused Kiev of “constantly” violating the rights of the Hungarians living in the country.
Speaking during a visit to Moscow, Mr Szijjarto added: “A much bigger problem is that the law on education Ukraine had passed, which violates the rights of the Hungarian ethnic minority, has not been amended to date.
“Despite the fact that we are interested in good-neighbourly relations with Kiev, Ukraine’s president and government reduced to zero good contacts between our country and Ukraine.”
Mr Szijjarto referred to Ukraine’s move agreed last year to force teachers to use only Ukrainian in secondary schools.